YEAR IN REVIEW THE BIGGEST STORIES OF 2004 INTERNATIONAL SPAIN CONDEMNS FRANCO'S PERSECUTION OF GAYS PLUS VIEWPOINTS SCREEN STAGE I MUSIC Dal VOLUME 21 I ISSUE 34 IN REVIEW Read about the stories that dominat- ed the headlines in 2004. PAGE 6. INTERNATIONAL Newfoundland and Labrador extend rights to same-sex couples. PAGE 20. ESTABLISHED 1984 YEAR-END NEWS SUMMARY 2004 s op en Good news, bad news: Gays forge ahead with significant gains, only to end year downcast at election results Compiled byTammye Nash and David Webb, Staff Writers No. 1: Valdez wins sheriff's race Lupe Valdez, a member of Dallas' GLBT community, became the first les- bian elected to public office in Dallas County when she defeated her Republican opponent by a two-point margin in the general election. Valdez, who is also the first Hispanic to be elected sheriff, was the first Democrat to win the sheriff's race in three decades. Shannon Bailey, president of Texas Stonewall Democrats, said Valdez's win showed the s...

soundout By David Webb questions with Rev. Carol West The Rev. Carol West is the pastor of Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, and of its satellite branch, Celebration on the Lake in Gun Barrel City on Cedar Creek Lake. West, who has been a pastor in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex since 1990, preaches at the satellite church on Saturdays and at the Fort Worth Church on Sundays. The pastor began her career in Dallas with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and has been the pastor of the Fort Worth Church for eight years. She has a weekend fishing cabin on the lake. Whal changes have you seen over the years in the GLBT communities where you are a pastor? It's .teen pretty amazing. I've seen lots of groups come up. I've seen more groups working together. I've seen people who weren't involved in the community become active and step for- ward. That's been a wonderful thing. hfcw visible is the GLBT community in the Cedar Creek Lake area? We h<we a trem...

dossier Cher and Bette 'In the Pink5 as cosmetics peddlers If any movie sounds like it's following a "how-to" guide for making a film a whole lot of gay men will line up to see, it's "In the Pink." Exhibit A: It's about door- to-door cos- metics sales. Tim Allen plays a misog- ynistic corpo- rate exec who, after getting downsized, finds himself selling a line of Mary Kay-style makeup along- side a group of women. His colleagues? Only Cher, Bette Midler, Britney Spears, and Wanda Sykes (exhibits B, C, D, and E, respectively). It's a comedy, naturally — by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy ("The Full Monty"), who's also directing —'with the woman-hater finally coming to truly understand his female customers so he can sell them more beauty products. Of course, Tim Allen pimping lip- liner may or may not be what most women want, but it could still make for some laughs. NBC buys 'Five Houses' Way back in the last century — 1998, to be precise — Fox bought a pilot called "Five Houses" from scree...

nreview 2004: A year of ecstasy and agony :'or gays, lesbians From gay marriages in Massachusetts and elsewhere to crushing defeats at the polls on Nov. 2, the GLBT community hit highs and lows By David Webb and Tammye Nash Staff Writers The GLBT community started off 2004 on a high note. The U.S. Supreme Court had the pre- vious summer, overturned the Texas sodomy law in a landmark ruling that took away a major stumbling block to GLBT equal rights. And in \o\ ember, the Massachusetts State Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples must be allowed equal access to marriage. GLBT activists were also looking forward to an election year that, many believed, offered hope of voting out what they considered a hostile administration. But just as couples were planning their honey- moons to Massachusetts and then began planning spur-of-the moment wedding trips to San Francisco where Mayor Gavin Newsome was handing out marriage licenses, the backlash began. Cultural conserva- tives, spurred on...

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